Mediterranean Shearwater (Puffinus yelkouan)

Other Names (World)
Yelkouan Shearwater, Mediterranean Shearwater

Family
Procellariidae (Petrels, Shearwaters)

Size
30 - 39 cm
Wingspan: 80 - 89 cm

First Described (Guide)
(Acerbi, 1827)

Habitat
Breeds on rocky coastal and offshore islets, and on the mainland, dispersing into the Mediterranean and Black Seas.

Range (Guide)

Albania (B), Algeria (B) (NB), Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria (B) (NB), Croatia (Local Name: Hrvatska) (B) (NB), Cyprus (P), Egypt, France (B) (NB) (P), Georgia, Gibraltar (NB), Greece (B) (NB) (P), Israel (P), Italy (B) (NB), Lebanon (NB), Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Macedonia [The Former Yugoslav Republic of] (B) (NB), Malta (B) (NB), Morocco, Palestinian Authority Territories (P), Romania (NB), Russia (European) (NB), Slovenia (P), Spain (B) (NB) (P), Tunisia, Turkey (B) (NB), Ukraine (NB).

Vagrant to Austria, Syrian Arab Republic.

Mediterranean Basin including Spain, France, Italy, Malta, Greece, Bulgaria, Albania, Croatia, Turkey and Algeria.

Population
Estimated population is 100,000 (2010) and decreasing.

Status VU
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Habits
Often in large flocks outside the breeding season.

Voice
Raucous cackling calls at breeding colonies. Silent at sea.

Xeno-Canto Sound Files (more (10)...)

Yelkouan Shearwater (Puffinus yelkouan) [XC808589]
by id from \u00cele de Port-Cros, Hy\u00e8res, Var, Provence-Alpes-C\u00f4te d'Azur, France (song)

Yelkouan Shearwater (Puffinus yelkouan) [XC375444]
by AUDEVARD Aur\u00e9lien from Hy\u00e8res, Var, Provence-Alpes-C\u00f4te d'Azur, France (song)

Subspecies
Puffinus yelkouan (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993) has been split into Mediterranean Shearwater (Puffinus yelkouan) and Balearic Shearwater (Puffinus mauretanicus) following Brooke (2004).

Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Manx Shearwater (Puffinus puffinus).

No subspecies.

References
See References.

Files:

More Information

BirdLife International

For more information about the Mediterranean Shearwater see... Show Articles

BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

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